
I recently attended a massive wine tasting put on by some of the coolest folks in winedom Bottle Notes. They are known for hosting wildly popular tasting events at the hottest venues. I was very excited to be invited, and was quite anxious to tell you all about it. However, I interpretted the event to mean Around The World in 80 GLASSES, so I think I’d better have someone post who can still form sentences. So as long as everyone promises not to make any loud noises whilst I recupreate, I bring you my friend and today’s guest blogger– Helen Melville. A self-proclaimed Wine-Snob. GREG
You’ve got to have a strategy.
Wine Journey
When Greg (Sup!) invited me to a wine tasting event in Hollywood with the ambitious name of Around the World in 80 Sips, I knew it was no use just wading in and hoping for the best. Because in no time your senses will be overwhelmed, your memory compromised and you won’t care what you are drinking so long as you can gaze at the free roaming eye candy that has suddenly appeared everywhere. No, in order to make the most of an 80 Sip wine tasting challenge in a pulsing labyrinth of a night club (h.wood), you have got to have a strategy.
My strategy was to start with the whites and rosés and work my palate into the pinot noirs and then the heavier reds to finish. It was also my intention to focus on the parts of the wine making world that I was less familiar with. Fabulous strategy, until the very first white, Chateau Musar Blanc, 2009 ($17.99) from Lebanon turned out to be a huge, full mouth blast of a wine (dry earth, figs, walnuts and gasoline) whose finish would give many a robust red a run for its money.
Taking a mulligan, I crossed the room to begin again in France with Domaine Jean Pascal Bourgogne, 2008 ($16.95). This was a white Burgundy (Chardonnay). In the womb-like darkness of the club it was near impossible to note subtleties of color in any of the wines and this particular wine also had a very subtle nose that my usually acute olfactories were having trouble detecting… with a sinking heart, I realized that the wine goblets we were using for the tasting were built for chugging wine, not analyzing its properties. With a further sinking heart, I realized that this event was designed for the enthusiastic amateur hellbent on a good time, rather than the dedicated wine-snob looking to hone her skills.
A “Wine-Snob’s” Journey
Over the years, my willingness to guzzle anything that went down smoothly and didn’t taste like vinegar has evaporated and I have slowly evolved into a bit of a wine-snob. I have progressed though several stages of wine-snobbery:
Stage 1. Initiation. When I was a girl, I lapped up sweet Tiger Milk and Blue Nun, gulped Lambrusco from mugs, felt sophisticated drinking Babycham and Mateus rosé and perhaps would have been content to spend my adulthood in the company of Charles Shaw, had I not acquired a French boyfriend who introduced me to Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé before blowing my mind with a Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Stage 2. Through exposure to the good, the bad and the indifferent, I found I was able to recognize the difference between mass-produced jug wine, decent wine and nectar of the gods. Of course, once you have tasted the latter, that is all you really want to bother with. I feel it is worth making the point that one doesn’t necessarily have to pay an arm and a leg to consort with the heavens. I am a wine-snob, not a label or price-snob. A great wine is like a harmonious symphony which can be enjoyed on the bench seats if you cannot afford a pool box.
Stage 3. This involved me branching out from merely tasting to educating myself about the grapes, how they are grown, where they are grown, the difference between old and new world wines, what grapes are allowed in which wines, the importance of year, and much more… My vocabulary expanded to include words like “malolactic fermentation” and “phylloxera” and I went to Ian Blackburn’s LAW (Learn About Wine) School and passed a doozy of an exam that included the blind tasting of 6 wines.
Stage 4. My startlingly hedonistic realization that the sublime fulfillment of senses comes with the scientific and/or creative pairing of the right wine with the right food. For a vegetarian though, this can be both a blessing and a curse. As I take into consideration which wine best goes with my menu, I have found that my fantastic collection of Cabernet Sauvignons are sticking around to age whereas I always seem to be cracking open the Pinot Noirs. At this point, I should mention that the cheese and fruit plates set up all around h.wood were divine complements to the wine being poured. Fresh figs and Humbolt Fog… need I say more?
Stage 5. I knew I was really in for the long haul label of wine-snob when I began requesting different wine glasses at dinner parties. My friends roll their eyes and accommodate me whilst putting this latest quirk down to my increasing level of eccentricity as I age. I am not mad though, wine glasses really do make a difference to the overall enjoyment and best overall experience of a fantastic wine. Drinking a beautiful wine from the wrong glass is like playing the piano in gardening gloves — yes, it can be done, but you are not going to get the best out of the concerto.
Try this: Pour a taste of your favorite wine into a plastic cup and take a sniff, next pour it into a wine glass that opens wide at the top, now one that narrows at the top, sniffing all the while. Finally, pour into a Riedel glass designated for the grape and inhale all that glorious nose. I guarantee you will smell and taste the difference.
So, now I have loosely established my credentials in wine-snobbery, let’s go back to where I left off with my second taste of the evening having been thwarted by the wrong glass! Realizing that I could expect nothing more from the evening than a rocking good time drinking wine and snacking on cheese and fruit, I decided to put away my pen and go with the (abundant) flow. I would try to taste as much as I could and see which wines had the finish to stand out in my mind after the last sip.
I powered my way through some wonderful wines, avoided the sweet fruit wines of Thailand that a couple of girls in earshot announced were their favorite, drank my way through the fun, young effervescent wines of Austria (good with pizza and a pool party), was surprised by the serious weight of the delicious Blackbird rosé, and along the way settled on a couple of favorites:
The White:
Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc, 2009 ($11.99) from Chile.
There were some very tasty Viogners and Rhone blends from Paso Robles in the mix. Many intrigued me. But my choice was influenced purely by personal preference for less fruity whites.
I tasted several Sauvignon Blancs in a row, including the very popular Wild Rock Elevation 2009 ($15.00). But I tend to eschew the massive fruit forward with lots of zing wines that are typical of New Zealand. So when I found the Veramonte that I chose as my favorite I was very excited. I was bowled over by the subtle minerality, its hints of citrus and lemongrass with perfect acidity. All this combined to make an extremely refreshing wine which tantalized, rather than assaulted my tastebuds.
The price point on this wine is astonishing considering the quality. A real bargain.
The Red:
Flowers Andreen Gale Pinot Noir, 2007 ($55.00) from Sonoma County, USA
Not only my favorite Red, but hands down my favorite wine of the evening. Once I had tasted this wine, everything else receded into the background and I was in love. The grapes are sourced from estate vineyards, rigourously hand-sorted and fully destemmed without crushing. Put to barrel on full fermentation lees for malolactic fermentation and cellared in barrel for 17 months in French Oak (40% new). Mushroom, earth and Bing cherry aromas with hints of rose petal and violets, this wine is pure elegance. Pinot noir is a finicky grape that can be very hard to grow in California. Some wine makers are tempted to add fullness by cutting it with Syrah and some make the mistake of over-oaking which masks inferior fruit but lends nothing to the grape’s refined nature. The wine maker at Flowers trusts his grapes and they deliver for him the purest expression of pinot noir I have tasted in a long time. Elegant, well-balanced and sexy, this wine is worth the splurge.
So there you have it. Around the World in 80 Sips with a flexible strategy that bent towards a buoyant boozy evening rather than a serious wine-snobby one for this attendee. Marvellous. A “Wine-Snob’s” Journey
That’s understandable that cash can make us independent. But what to do when somebody does not have cash? The one way only is to try to get the loan and car loan.
I made this today and it is awesome and the cardamon infused whip cream really goes well with this dessert. This is a keeper for my recipe book.
You had me at cardamom, Greg! I can’t wait to try this one.
As for what to call it, sometimes you just have to go with what sounds most appealing. Wouldn’t you rather have polenta than grits? Gelée rather than aspic? Not to say that the word “cake” is objectionable, but gateau and torte don’t sound quite so Anglo-Saxon. Those romance language words fall more prettily from the tongue.
Isn’t it so confusing? Thanks for a dedicated post on what makes a cake a cake, a gateau a gateau, and a torte a torte. Love this torte that you made! The plums are beautiful and I am digging the fact that it was only halved instead of thinly sliced. It creates a bigger impact!
A beautiful combination of flavors in this perfect summery dessert!
Over 15 years of bakery work has left me a bit tired of cake…but I love cardamom, and I love plums, so this one may be in my future! (I just can’t resist something different!)
Hey Greg, this is a really beautiful cake/gateau/torte (smile). Really. I just saw it on T.S. and was drawn to it without realizing it was yours. Nice!
Thanks for clearing that up for us 😉 That’s one gorgeous torte and I LOVE that you don’t have to peel the plums! Oh, and congrats on the Top 9!
I made this today with a lot of smaller plums and it was amazing! I think I never even used cardamom, but it went so good with the plums and whipped cream. Thanks so much!
Saw this on Food Buzz — congrats! Great post and a great, um, torte!
The photo of uncooked plums is just as beautiful as the finished cake, I mean torte. What is the texture of the plums in the final torte? Remember I have the husband who doesn’t like cooked fruit.
the texture of the fruit is jammy! GREG
I didn’t comment on this fab cake when visiting your site yesterday, because I KNEW.…I JUST KNEW that it would be a FoodBuzz Top 9, and I wanted to wait to congratulate you on the honor. Well done with this one. — S
A cake by any other name is just as sweet! It is all rather confusing — and when you get to France you have gateau, cake, torte, tarte. Whew! But to tell you the truth I just started thinking that I wanted to bake something with plums before they leave for the summer and this, I think, is it! Can I put it on my blog with a link back to you? Too scrumptious!
I’d be honored. GREG
…and thanks for the mention! I hope it made for a fantastic birthday cake. I always use Angela’s definition and just never call anything a gateau. I like your studied approach but I will never remember all that detail.
You made it into the Top 9 again! I think you make it more than anyone else. What’s your secret.
Wonderful cake! Congrats on Top 9 today!
… it’s all GOOD. But thanks for the lovely discussion on tortes, gateaux and cakes. I’ll take one of each, please.
[K]
I adore cardamon and feel like I do not use it nearly enough, I think I have even less of an excuse after you sharing this wonderful recipe.
Recipe says 2lbs of fresh baking powder …????
2 teaspoons! I’ll fix that GREG
before I’ve finished my first cup of coffee, aren’t you? Maybe not, because I don’t really bake anyway. Whatever it may be called, this recipe looks like it’s worth trying.
This has not been confirmed by an culinary institute, but is my observation. A torte will sit like a slice of tart or pie with it’s top layer, remaining it’s top layer. A cake will be plated on it’s side. That’s my theory.
First, happy birthday for whomever this cake, er, torte was made! Second, thank you for the clarification of terms. There is a good chance I’ve inadvertently made either gâteau or torte, but referred to them as cake. In any event, words are lost when I stuff my maw with the first slice. This plum torte is simply lovely!
What a gorgeous photo! I wish I could see a slice to see the interior. I’m imagining a beautiful moist crumb and juicy cooked plums. Oooh.…
The real question IS. Would a torte by any other name taste as sweet?
Hmm. This is all very confusing. I think I need some brain food. pass the torte, please.
Plums and cardamom are heavenly together, and this is one torte I plan to make.